Collegiate Times

“David’s playing more physical and that’s what we needed him to do,” Newsome said. “Vinston’s been a little better in protection here lately and that was one of his weaknesses. They are getting closer.”

Both Wang and Painter had major injuries in the past year. Wang had a shoulder injury last fall that kept him out of action all season.

Painter suffered a knee injury in the spring causing him to miss all of the spring practice.

But Newsome feels Painter is finally living up to the potential the coaching staff saw in him during his high school years.

“We’ve been waiting for him to get over the hump,” Newsome said. “It’s just been a slow process. I think these last two years here Vinston Painter is going to be daggone glad he chose to come to Virginia Tech.”

Even though the line is more inexperienced this season, the players have great chemistry. According to Brooks and DeChristopher, their chemistry is better now then it was at the beginning of last season.

“We’re all good friends. We all get along so that helps especially with the offensive line. You’ve got to be a tight knit group, so that really helps,” DeChristopher said.

Newsome likes the mentality the group seems to have as a whole and hopes that with the chemistry they are displaying success will come on the field.

“I really like the group,” Newsome said. “We got hard workers, tough guys in there. We’ve got guys who can move around and move their feet. We’ve gotten more athletic up there. It’s a group who likes each other. It’s fun to go in that meeting room and see them. I like where we’ve started this year. We got some smart guys, too, who can do a few more things (than last year’s).”

With the close-knit group, the players and coaches are just hoping for a successful season.

“You know last year we had too many sacks so we want to cut that down this year,” DeChristopher said. “We want to be a physical group so when people get on the field they’ll be like, ‘wow they’re
physical’.”

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